Sequent: the first Automatic Smartwatch in the world
Micro generatorsA watchmaker’s past
Kinetron’s invention of the world’s smallest and most energy-dense (4mm) Multipole Generator in 1988 led to many years of close cooperation with the Swiss watch industry. In fact, our micro-generator was massively used in the automatic-quartz movement for more than a decade.
Eventually, Kinetron evolved and developed energy harvesting systems for different markets and applications. However, our boundaries with the watch industry have always been steady.
In 2016, our expertise in energy harvesting led to a strong partnership with the innovative Swiss watch brand Sequent to produce the first and only automatic smartwatch in the world.
The partnership between Sequent and Kinetron
Kinetic energy harvesters have been used in the watch industry for quite some time already. Still, the high energy consumption in the smartwatch segment is significantly higher and apparently could not fit our energy harvesting systems.
However, when Kinetron’s technology met Sequent’s idea to have a self-sustainable smartwatch with a classical design, new possibilities seemed (and became) possible.
In fact, the absence of a touch display drastically lowered the watch’s energy consumption, making our energy harvesters ideal for Sequent’s health monitoring purpose. It was then a natural consequence for our companies to establish a strong partnership.
A self-sustainable smartwatch: energy consumption and durability
We manufacture a gravity-based Micro Generator System (MGS) to power Sequent's watches, harvesting and storing energy from human motion to power the device. Our MGS and Sequent’s low power-consuming watch makes it possible to have an extraordinary battery life available for this category of devices.
The new concept provides virtually infinite power autonomy as long as the watch is regularly used. Once the internal power cell is fully charged, it gives the user a standby time of more than a year. The autonomous charging module is interconnected with the watch’s health monitoring sensor technologies.
Micro Generator System: Technical details
The MGS 26.4 is equipped with an oscillating weight and gear that drives two mechanical rectifiers. One of the mechanical rectifiers has a spring barrel, which puts through a certain amount of torque to its gear, and drives the rotor of the micro-generator.
An average moving person causes the oscillating weight to make 4.000 revolutions per day, resulting in approximately 17.000 spring jumps of the spring barrel per day. The MGS 26.4 will generate approximately 600 mJ of energy per day when worn at the wrist of an average moving person.
Differently from previous uses of the micro-generator in the auto quartz watch movement for luxury brands, the current version of the system is the result of a high-quality solution that is also looking after cost-effectiveness.
With no gears and screws, Sequent’s movements are designed for a long lifetime and low maintenance. Moreover, the rotors are made exclusively of tungsten to increase inertia and optimize power output.
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